I am someone who thinks the rich need to carry more.

BUT, it's now just becoming outrageous. Outrageous premiums and outrageous mandatory own risk (NOT taking the number out of the article for this of course, I know that's voluntary own risk). The system is broken. It desperately needs to be improved, and otherwise, abolished (voluntary health insurance would still exist, of course).

If it gets abolished other problems will arise, that's for sure (1 example out of multiple: voluntary health insurance would be way more expensive). But if improvement is not going to happen really soon, abolishment is better than this road of destruction we're on now.

I honestly like this idea, it ensures that the cost of healthcare is still affordable for all, and the lower tax will be welcome.

Note for the editor: Average salary of 33000 a month? I'd advise you to proof read your articles

How does it work? Does the non-working wife and over 18 children of high earners also have to pay 482 euros per month each to health care?

please correct me if I am wrong but from the article i understand that if a person with income of 71000 have to pay 482 EUR. The same amount should be paid by somebody who earns 700,000 .. this is not proportionate to income this is a threshold ...

Well it's a job you can buy international health insurance for half the price - time to opt out

Its just insane. So an additional cost of at least 300 euros per month to high earners even once the tax saving is included? Its just additional tax nothing more, and creates an artificial playing field - leaving little incentive for people stuck on benefits to get back to work. There's already little difference between working and staying on benefits in NL. And working harder here is fairly pointless too as you just get taxed to death....government already claims more than half..now its growing

I ascribe to concept of rich ought to pay more, but I am stunned by this increased. The rich will generally use less of the service as presumably on average they have better health. Hence on one side they will pay unproportiately more yet likely use less of the service. I am not sure what proportion of the population is impacted, but I suspect many expats will fall in this category. Тhe Netherlands is turning more communist than the former eastern european countries, is chasing high skilled labor away and in general discouraging participation in the labor force. Is this the way to handle unemployement or indeed is a policy for economic recovery ?!

How many thousands - no millions - of times have I heard some Dutch person say 'that will never happen here'. Well, guess what time it is now? Time to pay more for health care than even in the US!

And this for the completely inadequate and substandard healthcare that NL has to offer? I am tired that the relatively low amount of people who bust their butts working full time in this country and have a decent, comfortable income, but who are by no means rich, keep on being treated like the 1%. In the meantime, the 1% keeps getting richer.

Mariana, if 482 is the cap, then it makes sense: the VVD are protecting the richest of the rich, and the middle incomers suffer the most. Remember, capitalism works (for the richest).

Thanks for nothing, PvdA (Rutte's new yes men).

Incidently, where was the part in the budget about reforming the golden handshake uitkerring for politicians (currently paid for upto 6 years, if I'm not mistaken). Oh right... only the (real) workers get hurt.

Honestly, this is ridicolous.
I am basically never ill, I see my "huisarts" every 3 years once, and I should spend almost 6000 euros per year on health insurance?

What I want to know is if this is based on household or per person. Because of the reduction in taxes for 'high earners' my household now falls in the 3x bracket...I can say we're nowhere near rich and this is going to bloody hurt if it's not based per person.

Where are those that earn around the $70k mark supposed to find €482/mth for health insurance? This is almost €6.000/yr which is an extra +/- €4.600/yr. The country will run the risk that many will not be able to meet your mortgage payments etc etc. The economy will come to a standstill. No more house improvements, "shopping" etc etc - builders, gardeners, shops will go out of business. When someone earns more they generally adjust their lifestyle, i.e. buy a larger, more expensive house with higher mortgage etc etc. It does not mean that the majority of these higher earners have thousands in the bank which are available for higher health insurance. Has the government gone crazy?

What on earth is wrong with there being a PERCENTAGE calculation/contribution? If someone earns €700,000 and the employee/employer contribution is say 10%, then that person is already contributing more than some earning €33,000 a year. What is wrong with the current system? This is already happening now. Making the rich (from a very randomly selected threshold) is unfounded. It certainly does not make sense as those who are earning more do not necessarily use the health system more. I say bring back in the old system where those earning more go privately.

This measure is totally insane.
We are not talking about an income-tax, we are talking about health.
Having access to health care is an universal right!

Looking forward to moving out of this crazy country next year.

This is madness! I have an average income, but thing it's grossly unfair to have the rich bear the largest burden, especially since the 70,000 cut off is not that high! I can understand that they pay a bit more, but 480€ is madness! Why not base the premiums on how much you claim back on average per year? I think it's more fair that healthy people pay less. Or, if they continue increasing prices like this, don't make dutch health insurance mandatory! In any case, I'm out of here in 3 years time when my contract is up!

@ Denhaag, I think more people will be opting out. I was faced with the same dilemma while I was working in Germany. For the last 5 years of my time there I was self-employed and as such got no employers contribution to my health insurance payments and was given a quote of just over 500 Euros. I looked around and insured myself under the international branch of a well known UK health insurance company for just over 100 Euros per month. I received the same treatment on the German system (actually I got preferential treatment as I was then "privately insured") and paid a fifth of what I would have done with a German company.

It'd just make sense if when you go to your GP you get a proper visit (instead of paracetamol).

the root cause of many of these ridiculous cost increases? - the EU and the completely ill planned unorganized stupid sloppy manner in which it was implemented by our political leaders. let's all try not to lose sight of that fact, for future reference.
golly, maybe we could all vote leaders into power that think things through a little better in the future, and prevent this madness before it is actually happening. we have no one to blame for this mess but ourselves. more consequences are coming soon.

Health care sounds so ridiculously expensive for someone earning 70k. Those people are better off working elsewhere outside NL. Soon, NL will only have people earning 33k and below and those earning 700k and above. Is this the kind of society we aspire to be in the future -a huge wealth gap?

Still thinking about this... and a few things I do not understand. Currently my insurance company does not know how much I earn. So it will change, right? They will have this information stored about me. hmmm, does not make me very happy.
And another thing, If I earn above 70k, but I lose my job after a few months, will they pay me back what I overpaid?

As many others already mentioned, it is quite insane but most of the dutch people I have discussed with looks to be fine with it. What surprise me is that people pay an huge amount on health insurance even today 120 Eur a month to get a very poor service from the health provider.
GP send you to the hospital when is to late when there is nothing to do because in the mean time they had to gain some experience on the patient feeding them with months of paracetamol or antibiotics as per "protocol". To be honest with half of the price you go to the best health care provider in Europe with a decent service.

Can someone explain to me how the massive increase in health care premiums will help the government save money. I thought my premiums went to the private heath care companies and their grossly overpaid directors.

It is understandable this higher income earners need to pay here and there a bit more. But I find it laughable to think that someone who makes more than €33,000 per year is rich. It is also very obvious that no one here in the Netherlands has the guts to stand up for the hard working middle class.

A friend of mine (the only wage earner in his family of four) says that now he will be paying over 300 euros/month for EACH person in his family, one of whom is under the age of 10.

He seems to think that if he were single, he'd pay over 300 euros/month, but since he has a wife and two kids which share this wage, he has to pay the same amount for each additional person.

This makes no sense to me...can anyone clarify??

Perhaps the problem is the privatization. You cannot get a normal supply-demand equilibrium when the supply (ie the number of places in med school) is so tightly controlled. When the balance between supply and demand is so artificially distorted, privatization only increases the cost, without improving the efficiency of the sector.

What will come of this country. Is there anyone actually representing the middle income people at the government??? I agree that the system is not fair, especially favouring the rich.

Who decided that 70,000 Euros was in the high earner category? What nonsense!

Susanna, good point!
So social rent cannot be income-dependent because it is illegal to give this private information to the landlords, but apparently it is legal to share our income information with the insurance company.
It makes perfectly sense.

through family necessity I live close to the border and work in Germany.
I pay my health insurance and that of my family here.
Under EU rules I pay tax where I work not where I live
I do not get any compensating tax cuts to cover the rise in premiums.

Question: What does the Queen and her family pay?

>Should the better off pay higher health insurance premiums.

Certainly not! The more sick people should pay more for their health care costs.

This sounds like an overkill. Why dont they just get rid of the zorgtoeslag instead of increasing the premium? This way, the govt. saved on administration costs.

And how does this move help in improving the health of the people? Either make healthcare costlier for everybody, or for the more sick. Do not penalise people, whether rich or poor, who are blessed with (or who strive to maintain) a good health.

Looks like I should settle for a lower salary to escape these atrocities.

I have just told my makelaar to put a house purchase on hold until these ideas are cleared up. To be honest I have now lost all interest. Net result, no business for 2 makelaars, the moving company, legal people, the bank, associated fees and taxes, etc, etc.

Good one Nl. Raise foot, take aim. Fire!

Its going to cost me a fortune too... and I never go to the doctor. Perhaps it is no coincidence that Bupa is advertising on DutchNews.nl at the moment.

So, if you are a female with 2 children and currently earning 75k per year you are basically faced with roughly 1500 per month for combined kindergarten and insurance costs. Add an apartment, telephone bills and FOOD to that and you are not left with a whole lot to play with.

Reckon single mothers will be hit hardest by this. I am stunned.

My husband is also the only one working in my family and he is already paying for his , mine, & our eldest sons health insurance, BUT he has only met the doctor once in 8 years as he is never ill. We are from the UK and i am now thinking we should move back there as the health insurance payments are already silly and the service here is not good. If my husband has to pay this new amount for each of us it will have effects of what we spend else where. 70K a year sounds a lot but the Netherlands is not cheap to live in anyway.

For those dangerously bordering that magic threshold, this will give people even more incentive to work LESS so they salary does not go up and still allows them the right to a salary raise based on merit. otherwise you're working hard, getting a merit increase, getting taxed more and bringing home less than ever. And all this in an attempt to earn the gov't money? Lovely idea folks.

GGG...do you HONESTLY believe that ALL illness is cause by human folly??? Try telling a parent that it was their child's fault that he or she got cancer. Or that he or she caused the car accident even though they are too young to drive.

Or that it's the sick person's fault that they INHERITED a disease.

Illness and disease and injury don't do a means testing before they inflict someone. It can even happen to you, no matter how much you think you're too special.

The only atrocity is your opinion.

As an exPat from America....take a tip from me.

This government is taxing the hell out the Dutch citizens. In a relatively short period of time I believe they will make the cost of living so high that Holland's middle class will be in the same economic position as America = which means no middle class at all!

Enjoy the quality of life you now have -- because the path the government is taking may soon force you to live with much less than you have had until now.

I long for the Holland I once knew.

And for years in the US we kept hearing how Dutch healthcare was second to none, and 'free' for all. It's great to actually live here and see some of the details. Free healthcare for all.... Poppycock! (OK, I just wanted to say poppycock).

DH: When was Dutch healthcare ever known as free? I've lived here 12 years and it's never been free. Nor has NL had true national healthcare (like the UK and other countries) in that time.

Expat for how long?: A parent sholdn't have to pay health insurance for 2 kids, they're covered for free up until age 18. And I'm not sure too many single moms are earning 75k a year.

Correct me if I'm wrong, but if you are one of the people balking at the high premiums and saying you never use healthcare, can't you opt for a higher eigen risico so that your premiums are lower? There are cost-reducing options if you don't need much healthcare.

@Michael - Of course they are intelligent enough to design a system where you get taxed in increments. They wouldn't create a threshold without lower-tier compensation.

Where's the budget gap? Let's see how much the current system is bleeding the govt dry, so they make their case. And considering they want to set the limits based on a few values, it's not even fairly graded and the middle class is taking the biggest hit!

Obviously, this is poorly conceived legislation. It is really telling that the quality of govt is not too intellectually deep.

Pity they'll piss away so many economic opportunities and increase taxes trying to keep up with European monetary "law" in lieu of growing their own economy. As an expat, less incentive to contribute to their economy where my tax money is reshuffled to the lazy and unemployable.

Makes me glad I live in Canada. $60/month flat fee for basic medical care in BC, and included in the taxes you pay in other provinces, so no extra charge. And we have better healthcare than the NHS in the UK.

70K euros is equivalent to 56K pounds or 90K USD, alot of money! Anyone who earns more than 70K and then complains about paying 10% of their income for the best health care in the world has their priorities akilter.

@Schnookums - Best healthcare in the world? Not the opinion of most of the expat folk whom I've spoke to after 10 years living here.

Just another way of targeting the middle class and trying to get money out of them.

If this goes into affect I can see the affluent expat community move on. Who wants to pay - 6K a year for a crap health care system...

CW,
>GGG...do you HONESTLY believe that ALL illness is cause by human folly???
Not at all. As you have written, they can affect anyone.

I only said that the more sick people should pay more for their healthcare costs. What's wrong with that? I feel it is wrong to burden everybody with costs of healthcare of everybody else. This only penalises people who do not use healthcare much.
(to be continued)

CW, you want people afflicted with cancer, accident victims & people with congenital disorders to be helped by others by paying heavy premiums. I sympathise with these people & would be inclined to help them. But, honestly, why should we be burdened with their healthcare costs? Do these same sick people share their pay hikes with us?? Why then should we share their heathcare costs? If you feel so strongly about this, why dont you come up with better ideas? Like asking the government to waive the costs for treatments not caused by human folly? Or, by asking welfare organisations to pay? That seems much better than increasing the premium so much just because our income is above a threshold.

>Try telling a parent that it was their child's fault that he or she got cancer. Or that he or she caused the car accident even though they are too young to drive.

CW, in some other countries, there are options available to help in such cases. Like cancer risk insurance, accident insurance, etc. They are not coupled to the health insurance and will benefit people who fit your examples.

Because healthcare is a RIGHT, GGG. Not a privilege for the rich.

Why should you be "burdened"?? Because everybody wins in a healthy society?? I can't believe how you go through life with such a selfish attitude.

CW, I would appreciate it if you refrain from cherrypicking my statements. To each his/her opinion.

@EddieTheRez - Be happy with what you have. Just think, you could be getting health care in the US and everyone knows how bad that is.

As for your statement about "the affluent expat community", no one forced you to live in an egalitarian state. You can always live where the 'affluent' do quite well whilst everyone else suffers. Brazil, China, USA, SA and Mexico come to mind. If you don't like living in a country that values equity - leave.

What is the best hidden secret for expats in the Netherlands is that the expensice health care insurance will not provide better care. Health care continues to be further rationed here. The Dutch Health Care system is mediocre and many cancer outcomes of common cancers show the third highest mortality rates in Europe amongst 27 countries here. As opposed to other European countries there is no real 'dual' public/private health care here. Even teh socalled private clinics are forced to conform to the rationing care standards of the public system. Te only benefit of private clinics here as far as one may call them that, is shorter wait times.